Camp will test friendship of Flame, Ram

But when pitted against each other, cordiality temporarily takes a back seat.

Lodi High's McKenna Martin and Madasonne Butler of St. Mary's share a love of water polo and a great deal of mutual respect knowing the commitment each has made to excel in the sport.

Martin and Butler recently were selected for the U.S. Women's Cadet National Team, an elite group of 28 young women from around the country vying for spots on the national water polo team.

Martin and Butler play the same position - the two-meter or hole set. The odds two players from the same area that play the same position were chosen for the same elite team aren't lost on Butler, who recently completed her sophomore year of high school.

"It's very rare to have two people from one area that play the same position get this far," Butler said. "I'm so glad we made it together. We're best friends. It's awesome that I made it with her because we get to go through these experiences together."

Martin and Butler will compete at a selection camp June 22-26 in Long Beach, where the 28-member cadet national team will be pared to a 15-member contingent that will represent the U.S. in late July in Hungary. Martin and Butler will be among four two-meter players going for two spots. They will support each other emotionally as they always have, while fighting for a coveted place on the team that will travel to Hungary.

"It's kind of weird to have best friends like that, where you're so close out of the water," Butler said. "You have to put together a different mindset."

Said the 16-year-old Martin: "We've been good friends from the start. We have been on this journey together."

Martin's journey in aquatics began at the age of 5, when she swam for the Lodi city recreation league. Her introduction to water polo came at 12 when she noticed some kids practicing with coach Courtney Porter at the other side of the pool. She joined the Lodi Water Polo Foundation and a year later signed up with the American River Water Polo Club in Sacramento. She works out in Lodi or Sacramento nearly every day.

"It's worth it," she said. "I love to play."

Martin and Butler have played the hole set almost from the day they began playing water polo. The position is demanding. When on offense, the hole set is centered in front of the opposing net and takes a beating from the opposition.

"At first, I wasn't looking forward to it and my coach said, 'You're a big girl. Get in there,'" said Martin, who will be a high school junior this fall. "I hated it because you're under water the whole time and someone's on top of you trying to make sure you don't get the ball.

"But as I got confidence and knowledge of the game, it was fun."

Butler wasn't necessarily expecting to be selected for the cadet national team. She twice had been passed over and was surprised to hear her name announced at the try-out last month.

"I wasn't truthfully listening for my name because I didn't think I was going to be called," said Butler, a member of the Big Valley Water Polo Academy in Stockton. "But my friend from Chicago shook me and said I made it. It was a dream come true."

Butler's dream is to go as far as she can in water polo, and study education in college with the goal of teaching the deaf.

"I'm just kind of fascinated by sign language, and their culture is very inspiring to me," said Butler, who will be a junior in the fall. "I take sign language at St. Mary's and I just love it."

Martin and Butler would love to continue their dream as teammates next month in Hungary, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. They're on the same track together.